Hot water heater and boiler



Sept. 10, 1940. T. H. sMooT HOT WATER HEATER AND BOILER I Filed Dec. 9,1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l &pt T H. SMOOT HOT WATER HEATER AND BOILER FiledDec. 9, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 10, 1940 PATENT OFFICE norWATER. HEATER A'ND BOILER Theophilus H. Smoot, Baltimore, M6,, assignorto Anchor Post Fence Company, Baltimore, Md., a'corporation of MarylandApplication December 9, 1939, Serial No. 308,471

1 Claim.

The invention relates to a hot water heater and boiler.

An object of the present invention is to provide a highly efficient,exceedingly economical and completely automatic hot Water heater andboiler which will be attractive in appearance and which will be readilyadapted for use as a hot water heater with or without an auxiliarystorage tank and which will also be adapted for use in a heating system.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hot Water heater andboiler of this character equipped with an internal circulation unitincluding a double water heating coil located in a flue and subjected tothe heating action of comb o es rom a l d. fuel burner n the passage ofsuch products of combustion to the chimney or stack and adapted to soconfine or impede the gases in the flue and break them up and causesufficient turbulence in them so that there is no straight gas flowthrough the heater or boiler with a hot internal core which has not beenin intimate contact with absorbing heating surfaces of the coil and theflue, whereby the internal circulation unit will be particularlyefiicient in heat transfer and a maximum amount of heat extracted fromthe combustion gases in the passage of the same from the burner to thechimney.

A further object of the invention is to provide an internal circulationunit adapted to produce a relatively rapid circulation of water throughthe coil and the boiler, whereby all possibility of steaming in the coildue to iaulty cire culation is eliminated.

It is also an object of the invention to pro vide an internalcirculation unit adapted to produce a closer approach to temperatureequilibrium throughout the total height of the tank or Water containingportion of the boiler or heater so that the point where the temperaturecontrol unit is inserted in the tank when the boiler is employed in aheating system will not be critical.

A further object of the invention isto provide an internal circulationfor the hot water heater and boiler in which the heat exchange coil isadapted to operate as a flash boiler and provide for an immediate supplyof hot water discharged directly from the coil when the burnr is in peation even from a cold r It is also an object of the invention toprovide in a hot water heater and boiler a construction in which the mudring in the boiler will be protected or shielded from the flame of theburner so that there will be no danger of burning out the boiler becauseof the mud ring being unprotected.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel 5 combination and arrangement of partshereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood thatvarious changes in the form, proportion and details of construction,within the scope of the claim, may be resorted to Without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the fluid heat domestic water heaterconstructed in accordance with thi invention, the double coil, theheaders and certain other parts being illustrated in dot and dash lines.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the domestic water heater.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-...3 ofFigure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 47-4 of Figure1.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5=-.5 ofFigure 1.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail sectional View showing the insulation ofthe combustion. chamher I extending inward beyond the mud ring andshielding the circumferential trough against direct heat transfer.

In the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferredembodiment of the invention when the invention is employed as a domesticwater heater I designates the boiler shell constructed of heavy steelboiler plate rolled into cylindrical form and provided with upper andlower drawn steel heads :2 and 3 Welded into the steel of the boilershell but the boiler may be of any other desired term and the heads maybe secured to the body portion of the boiler shell in any o h sui ab emann rh upp r an ow.- er heads 2 and 3 are flanged as shown and thelower head 3 is located at a point intermediate of the upper and lowerends .of the boiler shell to div d t e s m in an upp Wate nk 4 and alower combustion camber ,5. The boiler shell, surrounded by a jacket 6arranged in spaced elat o w th th bo l r sh l an the upper head thereofand the intervening space between the boiler shell and the jacket isfilled with mineral insulation 1; preferably such as mineral wool or asimilar miner substance butv iii any other suitable insulation may, ofcourse, be provided and the combustion chamber is lined at the bottomand vertical walls with insulating refractory 8 and preferablyreflective insulation 8 is also installed on the inside of the jacket toa height above combustion chamber. The upper and lower heads 2 and 3 ofthe boiler are concave-convex. g

The upper and lower heads present lower concave faces and the refractoryinsulation of the combustion chamber is of a suitable thickness, as

clearly illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings, to extend the fullheight of the boiler base and above the area occupied by the mud ring ofthe boiler to protect the mud ring from the vflame of a fluid fuelburner around the circumference'of the bottom head so that mud orsediment accumulated within the boiler-at the bottom thereof adjacentthe vertical wall of the boilerwill not cause exposure of a dry surfaceto the fire. 1 Secured to the jacket 6 at the lower portion thereof is aburner mounting panel 9 of the ordinary construction having anobservation port and access door large enough to admit a flame mirror.Any suitable fluid fuel burner may be employed. As the burner. mountingpanel is of the ordinary construction further description thereof anddetailed illustration of the same are deemed unnecessary. v

The upper and lower boiler heads 2 and 3 are provided with centralaligned openings l0 and l l in which are secured the upper and lowerends of a centrally arranged vertically disposed cylindrical flue l2 forconducting the combustion gases from. the combustion chamber to the arepreferably constructed of copper tubing and their upper and lowerterminals I4 and I5 are -connected to nipples l6 and l! of upper andlower headers. l8 and 19.. The headers are preferably constructed ofbrass and are arranged exq teriorly of the tank 4 of the boiler but theheat exchanger coils and the headers to which thesame are connected maybe constructed of any other suitable material. The double coils go intoheaders at top and bottom, and from these headers single pipe nipplesonly are run to other connections. The upper header I8 is provided atits outer end with a T 20 having vertically aligned coupling portionsand to the lower one of the coupling portions is. connected a pipe 2|constituting a depending arm of the header and communicating with theinterior of the tank 40f the boiler and having its lower end suitablysecured in an opening 22 in the upper head 2 of the boiler shell.

The lower header I9 is provided with a T 23 having horizontally alingedcoupling portions and connected by a tubular arm or branch pipe 24 withthe lower portion of the tank and secured in an opening 25 in the shellI. The T is provided at the outer end with a drain valve 26 adapted topermit the coil and the tank to be flushed and drained.

The heat exchanger coil is of a diameter to extend within closeproximity to the walls of the fiue l2 and the convolutions of the coilsbafile the combustion gases passing through the flue and break up thegases and prevent any liability of volumes of the gas with hot corespassing directly through the heater to the chimney or stack. Thebafiling action of the exchanger coil causes the hot combustion gases tobe brought into intimate contact with the heat absorbing surfaces of thecoils and the flue so that a maximum amount of heat is extracted fromthe combustion gases in the passage of the same from the fluid fuelburner, (not shown). to the chimney or stack. Also the coils' of theheat exchanger are adapted 'to operate as a flash boiler for enablinghot water to be drawn from the coils when the burner is in operationeven from a cold start and the upper coupling portion of the T 20 isdesigned to be connected with the pipe line for furnishing the hot watersupply.

A cold water supply pipe 21 extends through the top of the heater anddepends within the tank 4 and terminates. adjacent the bottom headthereof for feeding cold water to the hot water heater but when heinvention is employed as a boil-er for a heating system the cold watersupply pipe 21 is omitted and the T 20 is connected with the feed lineof the heating system, the return line of the heating system beingconnected with the tank at the back thereof, a nipple '28 being providedfor this purpose and which is closed when the invention is employed as adomestic water heater. An auxilary tank (not shown) may also beconnected with the T 20 when the water demand is so heavy as to requireadditional storage capacity, and recirculation to heater from tank isobtained by returning from. tank to heater at connection 28.

When the invention is employed as a boiler in a heating system it willbe equipped with the usual accessories such as an altitude gauge andthermometer, and a limit control and because of the rapid circulation ofthe water through the internal circulation unitthe temperaturedifferential between the water at the top and bottom of the tank isrelatively slight and the limit control may be inserted in the tank atany preferred point between the topand bottom. of the tank without suchpoint being critical.

What is claimed is:

A hot water heater and boiler including a boiler shell provided withupper and lower heads having aligned openings, the lower head beingconcavo-convex and located at an intermediate point between the upperand lower ends of the boiler shell and dividing the same into an uppertank portion and a lower combustion chamber, a flue arranged within saidtank portion and having its ends secured in the openings of said head,upper and lower headers located above and below the tank andcommunicating therewith, a heat exchanger coil located within the flueand connected at its ends to the upper and lower headers and formingtherewith an internal circulation unit, said coil including a pair ofhelical sections having equal helix diameters and equal pitch, saidsections being arranged concentrically and being provided with fittingsexteriorly of the shell to facilitate replacement, and an insulationlining for the walls of the combustion chamber extending tothe top ofthe same and arranged to protect the boiler mud ring! from. flame aroundthe circumference of the bottom head.

